If you have SEO on your mind and are seeking an SEO professional then it is important to ensure that you get the correct solution, the first time.
Like any service enquiry, you should a) communicate clearly what you need and b) ensure that you understand what services are being offered, and what the expected results are going to be for the price. Basically you should ensure that both parties have the same expectations. "Website top of Google" is a vague comment to be made by either yourself or your supplier. "To rank on the first page of the Google search results for phrase X" is much better: it is very clear and can form an excellent objective for the SEO work about to be embarked on. But you want to be careful here too: if your potential SEO specialist starts making guarantees about Google rankings, then that is not good. Google itself explains that nobody can guarantee rankings in the Google search results.
Identifying the keywords for which you want your website to rank in the Google search results is essential and this list should be agreed by both parties. It is easier to get a website ranking well on Google for more specific, targeted phrases (e.g. "seo sunshine coast") than more generic phrases (such as "SEO"). As well as this there are a number of technical aspects about your website that make your website more "friendly" to Google, and easier for your SEO supplier to optimise. These are things that should be gone over and understood before getting started with the search engine optimisation of your website. Here's what I recommend you consider and discuss with potential SEO suppliers, during those crucial discussion stages.
What you need to ask your SEO supplier
You will wish to ensure that you hire an ethical SEO Expert who will carry out only proper and above board SEO work on your website. Underhanded or bad SEO work, where efforts are made to unnaturally or falsely increase the success of your site on the Google search results and are without a doubt frowned upon by Google triggering penalties, or worst-case-scenario, being banned from Google. This is extremely difficult to recover from and in worst cases the domain name needs to be abandoned. Unethical practices include buying link, participating in link farms, cloaking domain names, making text on your web pages visible to Google only and creating other content for Google only, and not humans.
As with providers of any service you should ask your potential SEO provider for references. Find SEO testimonials on their website and check them, and actually ring these clients and check the success of the work that your potential supplier has done. Ask your provider for a list of activities they will undertake as part of the SEO of your site and check that no unethical activities are included. Here's a quick list. If in doubt ask me. If they subscribe to an SEO code of ethics of some sort, then that is desirable as well.
Conversation along these lines between you and your SEO Expert prior to undertaking SEO work can really help to ensure the smooth running of your SEO programme, and the achievement of agreed goals. Regular progress updates, or questions from your SEO supplier add to your understanding of the work accomplished and is valuable, as is your considered response to questions and feedback when sought. An effective SEO solution is one where the SEO supplier and the client work together.
How you can help your SEO Supplier
Do you know what the phrases you should rank highly on Google for are? Or do you need your SEO specialist to find this out for you? Your SEO professional will have a number of specialized tools available which allow him or her to investigate what keyphrases your target market really uses on search engines to find your services and products. These phrases often vary from the ones you might intuitively think of, because you are thinking from your own perspective as the seller, you naturally use language and jargon related to your industry, and in general it can be difficult for you to really put yourself in the shoes of your potential customer.
Your SEO expert will welcome your thoughts on what keyphrases to start with, and will be able to research and establish a pool of keywords for which you need your website to rank well on Google. Also look at your competitors and see what keyphrases they use, or are found to be ranking well on Google for, and develop a list. Provide these lists and ideas to your SEO supplier.
Describe your target market to your SEO Specialist. Who/what are they (demographics) and where are they (geographical targeting)? This will determine the language, grammar and phrases etc to be used on your website and the correct phrases to be included in the SEO (e.g. "optimised" in UK, Vs "optimized" in US). It will also help your SEO specialist when he or she comes to formally telling Google where to geographically target your website.
Like any service enquiry, you should a) communicate clearly what you need and b) ensure that you understand what services are being offered, and what the expected results are going to be for the price. Basically you should ensure that both parties have the same expectations. "Website top of Google" is a vague comment to be made by either yourself or your supplier. "To rank on the first page of the Google search results for phrase X" is much better: it is very clear and can form an excellent objective for the SEO work about to be embarked on. But you want to be careful here too: if your potential SEO specialist starts making guarantees about Google rankings, then that is not good. Google itself explains that nobody can guarantee rankings in the Google search results.
Identifying the keywords for which you want your website to rank in the Google search results is essential and this list should be agreed by both parties. It is easier to get a website ranking well on Google for more specific, targeted phrases (e.g. "seo sunshine coast") than more generic phrases (such as "SEO"). As well as this there are a number of technical aspects about your website that make your website more "friendly" to Google, and easier for your SEO supplier to optimise. These are things that should be gone over and understood before getting started with the search engine optimisation of your website. Here's what I recommend you consider and discuss with potential SEO suppliers, during those crucial discussion stages.
What you need to ask your SEO supplier
You will wish to ensure that you hire an ethical SEO Expert who will carry out only proper and above board SEO work on your website. Underhanded or bad SEO work, where efforts are made to unnaturally or falsely increase the success of your site on the Google search results and are without a doubt frowned upon by Google triggering penalties, or worst-case-scenario, being banned from Google. This is extremely difficult to recover from and in worst cases the domain name needs to be abandoned. Unethical practices include buying link, participating in link farms, cloaking domain names, making text on your web pages visible to Google only and creating other content for Google only, and not humans.
As with providers of any service you should ask your potential SEO provider for references. Find SEO testimonials on their website and check them, and actually ring these clients and check the success of the work that your potential supplier has done. Ask your provider for a list of activities they will undertake as part of the SEO of your site and check that no unethical activities are included. Here's a quick list. If in doubt ask me. If they subscribe to an SEO code of ethics of some sort, then that is desirable as well.
Conversation along these lines between you and your SEO Expert prior to undertaking SEO work can really help to ensure the smooth running of your SEO programme, and the achievement of agreed goals. Regular progress updates, or questions from your SEO supplier add to your understanding of the work accomplished and is valuable, as is your considered response to questions and feedback when sought. An effective SEO solution is one where the SEO supplier and the client work together.
How you can help your SEO Supplier
Do you know what the phrases you should rank highly on Google for are? Or do you need your SEO specialist to find this out for you? Your SEO professional will have a number of specialized tools available which allow him or her to investigate what keyphrases your target market really uses on search engines to find your services and products. These phrases often vary from the ones you might intuitively think of, because you are thinking from your own perspective as the seller, you naturally use language and jargon related to your industry, and in general it can be difficult for you to really put yourself in the shoes of your potential customer.
Your SEO expert will welcome your thoughts on what keyphrases to start with, and will be able to research and establish a pool of keywords for which you need your website to rank well on Google. Also look at your competitors and see what keyphrases they use, or are found to be ranking well on Google for, and develop a list. Provide these lists and ideas to your SEO supplier.
Describe your target market to your SEO Specialist. Who/what are they (demographics) and where are they (geographical targeting)? This will determine the language, grammar and phrases etc to be used on your website and the correct phrases to be included in the SEO (e.g. "optimised" in UK, Vs "optimized" in US). It will also help your SEO specialist when he or she comes to formally telling Google where to geographically target your website.
About the Author:
Ashley Bryan is an SEO Consultant offering SEO, Website Marketing and SEO Training services to companies in New Zealand and Australia.
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